Matt DiGirolamo made 21 saves and the host Waterloo Black Hawks converted both of their power plays on the way to a 3-0 shutout of the RoughRiders Saturday night, a loss that pushes the Riders to the brink of playoff elimination. The Hawks now lead the best-of-five opening round series two games to none; the RoughRiders must win game three Wednesday night in Cedar Rapids to stay alive.

The Hawks were on the power play when Brett Beebe gave Waterloo a 1-0 lead by burying a Brock Montpetit centering pass at 15:24 of the first period.

The Black Hawks protected the slim lead until Garrett Larson scored a key insurance goal at 11:44 of the third period. Waterloo was again up a man when Larson tipped in Drew McKenzie’s shot to make it 2-0.

Jan-Mikael Juutilainen’s empty net goal capped off the Black Hawk win with just 33.6 seconds left.